For us, April started with a week of holidays.  Being Semana Santa, there was no school, and the end of the week brought about the closure of almost all the businesses and stores here in San Salvador.  Of course, although it was a National Holiday, there was not a lot of time off for us as a family and ministry.  There were still pastor’s meetings, church board meetings, classes to teach, and emergencies to deal with.  We did take the first Monday as a “family day” and headed to the beach to enjoy some rest and relaxation.   We enjoyed a great day swimming in the pool, making sand castles and looking for shells.  Hudson unfortunately fell ill with a fever before the day was through but a great time was had by all. 

Sophia turned 7 during Semana Santa and we celebrated with some very dear Salvadoran friends.  Scott and I surprised her with a beauty parlour of her very own.  We put everything together while she was asleep and enjoyed watching her reaction in the morning.  Her gift is composed of different elements of her life and our family history.  It is very special to her and we hope she will cherish it for many years to come.  Much to Daddy’s dismay the parlour came with makeup, but Sophia knows it is only to play with and not to wear outside of the house.  She had however tried to sneak out with lipstick on!  Once school started again she celebrated with her classmates and enjoyed giant chocolate chip cookies, juice boxes and party favours with her friends.

This month our Castle missionary family took a bit of a hit, as two couples had to return home due to personal illness and a very sudden death in the family.  Because we work as a team here, Scott moved out to the lake for a week to look after a team that was scheduled to arrive and to work in the Communications Department.  He  came back and forth a couple of times for meetings here in town but mostly stayed at the lake to work.

While he was still away, the kids and I set out on an adventure of our own.  We travelled to Nicaragua to assist in special services taking place to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Assemblies of God Nicaragua.

Our trip started at 3:45 a.m. and we travelled through El Salvador, Honduras and into Managua Nicaragua by around 2 p.m.  We travelled in our car but had 2 friends with us to help with driving and border crossings.  Border crossings in these countries are always an adventure and the rules are never the same twice.  I was warned ahead of time to beware of exaggerated entrance and exit fees, random checks of all contents in the car, made up traffic infractions and long waits.  I prepared for all the above and even had in hand paperwork drawn up and signed by lawyers giving me permission to take my children into these countries (without their father) and the same for the car.

I can happily report that our crossings were flawless, entrance fees were not exaggerated, the car was never checked, permissions were never asked to be seen and not once were we pulled over by police.  I even drove in Nicaragua by myself and had no problems.

While we were there we worked to clean up the Castle property for a special service,

we had an impromptu baby shower for a Salvadoran friend who is serving in Nicaragua at this time, and experienced an open air church service where more than 100,000 people gathered to worship the Lord.  I reconnected with friends from language school in Costa Rica, and had the privilege to spend time with the Triplett family who were being honoured on this very special occasion.  It was a wonderful time.

The most amazing part of our time away was the opportunity I had to watch my children throw themselves into their role as missionaries and watch them work hard, get dirty, and do whatever was needed  at the moment.  For the first time I got a glimpse of the relationship that Sophia has with the Lord.   I watched her pray, seriously pray, for our friends baby, and saw the condition of her heart as she reacted to the sights around her.

God has been so good to us this month.  Through the craziness, and everyday tasks of ministry, He continually showed us that He is in control and that He loves us enough to use us in this capacity.

During their time here the team also blessed our Master’s Commission girls, did food distribution, visited orphanages, and painted materials for Castillo Feliz.  The team was huge blessing to all that they came in contact with and most importantly left a mark on the ladies here in El Salvador.

Close at their heels came Kincardine Pentecostal Church.  This team came ready to build and bless.  The team was broken into two parts.  Construction and Compassion.  The men on the Construction side of the team worked hard in the blistering heat to complete our Pelibuey barn.  These men laughed, sweated, lugged block,and mixed cement for two weeks.  The Compassion side of the team, which consisted mostly of women, spent their time doing craft and devotional workshops with ladies in our ministry zones, they distributed food in a gang controlled area, hosted birthday parties for the kids in both the nursery and Castillo Feliz at our church, and hosted a Luncheon/Spa/Craft day for our Pastor’s wives.  The team as a whole came ready to bless and bless they did indeed.

March brought Maple Community church for the 4th time to El Salvador.  They visited an orphanage that they have come to love, distributed food and did services in an area that they have ministered in for 3 years and this year they also had the opportunity to visit a government facility that houses boys that have been taken out of dangerous situations and girls that have committed crimes.  They shared the gospel with these young people and blessed them with the gift of much needed personal hygiene products.

We also had the opportunity to host a team from Lindsay Ontario.  Up close Ministries came and spent a week doing street evangelism, and spending time in a zone with a pastor.  They gave it their all as they shared the gospel through drama, songs, dance and the Word.  This team of young people put their hearts and souls into everything that they did here and in return not only helped change El Salvador but they too left here changed and ready to impact their community.

While hosting our teams we also had the opportunity to have friends from Canada visit for 2 weeks.  Brian and Laura came and were such a blessing to both the ministry and us personally. Brian did some roof repairs, painted and closed in some windows for us at the lake, while Laura helped me paint and remodel the Castle Gift Shop.  She helped me copy this year’s t-shirt design onto a wall (freehand) so that our Kincardine team could paint it.  We now have this wonderful mural as a centrepiece in the store. 

Scott and I have been working with our Children’s Pastors in developing a new program that involves going into a specific area for 6 weeks to minister to the children, get to know parents and train leaders.  We are doing this to draw more children into our Castle Discipleship Programs.  At the end of the 6 weeks we celebrate with a “Fun Fair”.  March 30th marked our first fair and it was awesome.  More than 400 children came to enjoy clowns, games, inflatable jumpy castles, prizes, food, and face painting.  The event was a huge success, and the children really enjoyed a day that was just all about them.

On a personal family note:  Sophia and Daddy enjoyed a “Daddy/Daughter” date in March after all the teams returned to Canada.  The kids really miss having Dad around when we have teams on the ground and so this year we are introducing “dates” into our schedule.  They enjoyed dinner out and then surprised Hudson and I with gelato upon their return home.  Hudson and I enjoyed the house to ourselves and curled up in bed to watch a movie.

Hudson turned 5 on the 8th of March.  We were busy with teams but he partied with his school mates and enjoyed giant pizza size cookies, juice and of course goodie bags. We scooted out to Pizza Hut for dinner and enjoyed a few minutes as a family to celebrate.  He is very proud to be 5 and reminds often that he is a big boy now.

We experienced our first trip to the Emergency Room with Sophia this month as well.  She learned the hard way that plastic cars, hills, and concrete walls don’t mix well.  We are thankful that her injuries were minimal but she did give us a scare.  She was very brave as the doctors took x rays of her face and checked her eye and thankfully only ended up with a black eye and slight concussion.  She didn’t like people looking at her eye so she took to the theory that the more accessories she used the less people would notice. 

We are in the process of planning a trip home in the Fall to connect with our supporters and meet new ones.  Please keep us in your prayers as we plan and let us know if you would like a visit from your missionaries.

Blessings to you all and thank you for walking with us in our journey as your Missionaries here in El Salvador.

Scott, Melissa, Sophia, and Hudson

While the world around us was partying the night away, the Williams household told a different story.  Scott passed the New Year at the lake saying farewell to a short term missions team, while I had the opportunity to spend part of my New Year’s Eve with the wonderful folks at Evangel Temple in Montreal, Que.  Technology is a wonderful thing and allowed me the opportunity to personally thank the people of Evangel who are so faithful in their support of us here on the field.  Hudson passed the New Year scared to death of the noise outside and Sophia slept through it all.

January has been a very busy month for us.  Scott took part in the General Conference meetings here for the Salvadoran Assemblies of God, we went to Panama for our Missionary Retreat and passed a few days with other PAOC Global Workers who work in the Latin America and Caribbean region.  Upon our return to El Salvador, Scott quickly repacked his bags and headed to Ecuador for the National Summit meetings of King’s Castle.  As Director of King’s Castle Canada he took part in a few days of meetings and then spent the rest of the time working with the communications department filming and preparing training DVD’s for Castle programs all over the world.

The kids started school this month and so we are back to regimented schedules, homework, packed lunches, dirty uniforms, and the ever present threat of head lice.  Hudson feels like a big boy now that he is in Kinder 5 but is having trouble staying in his classroom and Sophia is learning the ropes of 1^st grade but enjoying the change non the less.

I have been busy planning for two teams that will arrive in the next couple of weeks and I am super excited for what the Lord is going to do through them.  We are trying new things and exploring new ministries.

Please pray for us as we head into February.  Pray that our teams will make a huge impact on the people they are going to minister to and that we accomplish the work that we setting out to do.

Specific Prayer Requests:

~  Favor with the municipalities around our properties to be able to continue improving our church and camp facilities.

~  Safety and protection for our family.

~  Continued financial and prayer support

Become a partner

To make an online donation click:
www.paoc.org/donate/ScottWilliams

Or write a check made out to:

The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada

Mail the check to:

Scott and Melissa Williams

c/o The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada

2450 Milltower Court

Mississauga, Ontario

Canada

ATTENTION: IMD Donations

Scott and Melissa Williams • Your Missionaries to El Salvador • www.go.kingscastle.ca

Not the beer kind, but rather the stomach muscle kind.

I am not doing so well on either since it is Jan 5th already and I haven’t written a thing and since I just made 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter chips added in( just because I can), but I totally shouldn’t because I am pretty sure that there is no room in a six pack for cookies but I am not sure since I have never had one before.

Sorry…

Last Wednesday evening our neighbours (who are awesome by the way) left for the beach for a few days.

Thursday morning the water company came and started digging up the street in front of their house.

By digging up I mean there were tools smashing pavement, rocks flying and hitting our cars, water gushing out of pipes and mud piling up on the road.

After a little while the men stopped the water leakage and left.

They didn’t come back on Friday, or Saturday, or Sunday.

We figured it was probably because it was the weekend.

Sunday evening our neighbours came home from the beach, struggled to squeeze their cars into the driveway (which was littered with rocks and debris from the digging of the hole), and came over to ask what had happened.

After relaying the story they headed home sharing the hope that Monday morning would bring back the men and the hole would be filled.

YEAH RIGHT!

It is now Thursday.

The hole is still there.

The water company is not coming back to fill the hole in.  It is not their policy.

They dig em, and you get to fill em if they are in front of your house.

Can you believe it?

Our neighbours have no water coming into their cistern so a water truck had to be brought in last night.

They can’t fit all their cars in their driveway.

We can’t get out of ours without driving up the road first to turn around.

And…. it’s dangerous.

We have a gaping hole in our otherwise nice street that is big enough to swallow up small children and pets and the only purpose it has right now is to store the remains of New Year’s firecrackers.

The latest news is that the water company with know in 72 hours if they are going to do anything!

Again can you believe it?

Men Working… Yeah Right!

As a family we hosted 14 teams from Canada, and each one was a blessing in their own, different way.  Together we laughed, cried, prayed, sweated, packed food bags, danced, played, ate, painted, hauled block, vaccinated baby chicks, and loved.  As a result, many people (and animals) received food, prayers, murals, clothing, new barns, the Gospel, love, and some even received healings.  There is no better way to spend a year.

Scott, while being the head of our family and super dad found time to not only deal with administrative tasks, but to teach communications, and fund raising to our Master’s Commission students.  He took over the position as Communications director and is now working towards developing the communications department here at King’s Castle El Salvador.

I once again taught English to our Master’s students, and took on the position of Supervisor over ministries for children between the ages of 0 and 8.  I  now spend every Saturday and Sunday working with our weekly discipleship programs.

Sophia’s year was filled with firsts.  She lost her first tooth, translated her first children’s service http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOWlSEgMPuk , started gymnastics, got attacked by fire ants, learned to swim, modeled, and danced the waltz with a boy in her class.  The dance was part of her graduation from Preparatoria and it was a very special occasion for our beautiful little girl.  She is off to first grade in January and with that change will come many new challenges.  Her school day will be longer, work load increased, and she will be in a new school building away from Hudson.  Please keep her in your prayers and she adjusts to her new surroundings.

Hudson grew at the speed of lightening this year.  He has caught up to Sophia in height, weight, and shoe size.  He did very well this year in Kinder 4 and is super excited to begin Kinder 5. He was awarded his diploma and acknowledged for his friendship and charisma.  He is a jokester, who loves to make people laugh with his funny faces and crazy antics. He loves to play soccer but is still a bit timid to join a team, so we will try again this coming year. Please keep him in your prayers as well.  This coming school year will be different without his big sister in the same building looking out for him.

Together this November we took a much needed trip home to Canada as a family.  It had been two years since the kids and I were home and so we took the opportunity to lay low, relax, and try to rejuvenate after a very busy and somewhat stressful year.  We chose not to itinerate or meet with pastors during this visit as we felt it was important to focus on our immediate families.  It was so enjoyable to just “be” with family and enjoy the people that we left behind to come on the field.

While in Canada, Scott and I took advantage of free babysitting (grandparents) and headed to Thailand for time away just the two of us. The last time that we were away together without children or for work purposes was 10 years ago.  We stayed with another missionary family and had the opportunity to not only tour Bangkok but to visit a couple different ministries that our new friends are involved in and do a little flood relief work.  We also had the opportunity to capture some video and photos to help our friends with promotional materials.

We have set a goal this year to host 25 teams from Canada.  Teams are what makes what we do possible.  We need you to do what the Lord has placed in our hearts.   Please consider coming to El Salvador to take part in a ministry that will not only change the lives of many Salvadorans but that will also change yours.  For more information please contact us at: williams@kingscastle.ca or visit our site at www.go.kingscastle.ca

Please consider partnering with us financially.  All donations are tax deductible. www.paoc.org/donate/ScottWilliams

As a personal note to all those who have partnered with us… Thank you so much for the financial sacrifices that you make on a monthly basis to help us stay on the field.  Our ministry is as much yours as it is ours and we can’t thank you enough for the blessings you bestow on us.  We pray for you and love being a part of your family.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers and know that we love hearing from you.  Send us your prayer requests.  Our relationship is a two way street and we sincerely want you to know that we too stand with you through your ups, downs, triumphs and sorrows.

Looking forward to 2012
The Williams Family- Scott, Melissa, Sophia, and Hudson- YOUR missionaries.

There are days when working in missions is more frustrating than fulfulling.

There are days when I don’t want to put on a Castle shirt, or smile at people, or even speak Spanish.

But in the midst of those days, the Lord gives us a day like today.

My day started at 6:23 a.m.

I was at our International Office by 7:30 a.m. pulling supplies out of the garage and loading up the car.

By 8:00 a.m. I was at the tent (which is our church) unloading the supplies I had just loaded all the while dreading the long walk to the children’s tent with said supplies.

(I will pause here for a moment to give you some background info.)

Our church is a tent.

A tent with no walls.

It is windy season.

Tent, no walls, outside, windy season.

Are you getting the picture??

DUST!! A LOT OF DUST.

DUST that needs to be swept out of the tent before the little ones arrive.

( continuing my story)

After lugging said supplies down to the tent, I was sweating.

It’s hot here.

After sweeping out the tent and setting up 80 some odd little chairs, I was really sweating.

Not a nice glow…. SWEATING!!!

The kids arrived.

They are so cute.

I will never get tired of hugs and hello’s from our future pastors, missionaries, and world changers.

Today, the kids were wired!!

Running, throwing dirt, trying to climb our new fence that is very pointy on the top.

Needless to say, my job description today was to take boys off the fence.

It was a full time job.

Especially with a little boy named Alexi.

He is adorable, dirty, full of beans, and today his nose was runny and so…. he had dirty boogers all over his cuteness.

After running after Alexi for quite some time, I noticed he had a paper airplane in his hand.

I asked him to throw it to me, and so started our relationship.

We played, and laughed, and magically he started to listen to me.

He even ran to me for comfort when he fell.

(Melt my heart)

To make a long story short…. Alexi needed me today and even more so I needed him.

I needed him to remind me the reason I do what I do.

I do what I do because little boys like Alexi need people like me to throw paper airplanes, to clean their dirty faces, and pick dried boogers off their cuteness.

I do what I do because children need to be noticed.

I do what I do because Jesus noticed me, cleaned me up, and made me who I am.

Reason enough!

What made me realize this?

Well thank you for asking….

I realized that by not writing you are missing out on my very glamorous life.

A life that involves steeping tea bags to soothe my husbands eye… which has a stye.

*Note- my father says you get those from peeing on the side of the road*

However I am almost certain that my husband does not do that.

And, by not writing you miss out on the fact that Sophia has lost a tooth and now has another loose one.

*Note- I hope the new ones straighten themselves out because I can’t afford braces*

And finally, by not writing you miss out on the fact that instead of walking to the bathroom while playing in the living room, my son prefers to pee out side on the grass instead.

*Note- maybe my husband does pee outside… where else would Hudson learn it?

And if that’s the case…. he can steep his own teabag tonight to treat his self inflected stye in the eye.

Welcome back to my very, very, oh so very glamourous life!

It was an awesome week and I will blog about that another day.

Today I want to focus on the hoops a mother has to jump through in order to leave the house for a week.

I had to:

1.  slowly start to “mention” that Mommy might be going away.

2.  plan meals for the week that I would be out of the house.

3.  buy groceries… to last a week

4. print out a lunch box schedule and school uniform schedule for both kids.

5.  post above said schedule on the kitchen cupboards a few days in advance to allow for any questions from Daddy.

6.  review medicine situation and buy all missing medications that may be needed in my absence.

7.  make a first aid kit that is clearly labelled, strategically placed, and easily accessible.

8. continue to break the kids into the idea of Mommy going away.

9.  think about what to pack in my suitcase.

10. stress about the kind of food I will HAVE to eat while on my missions trip.

I was tired before  I left but in a few days you will see that all my organization was worth it and my stresses were just that…. stresses.

Mommy went away and the world did not stop.

Huh…. who knew?

That is waaaaaaaaaay too long.

Lazy.

Un responsible.

Rude.

and not to mention lazy.

So let’s start again with a clean slate.

My name is Melissa Williams and I am a lazy, un responsible, rude, and not to mention lazy blogger.

Will you still read my posts?

I have a lot to tell you and I promise to be more consistent.

Yours truly,

The Missionary Mommy

I’m still an auntie actually to two beautiful girls, Jessica and Charlotte.

I met Jessica the very first time I went to Scott’s house when I was 16 years old.  I know… that was a long time ago.

She was 6 months old at the time and so teeny tiny with hair that stuck straight up all over her head.

Picture Bert from Sesame Street and you are on the right track.

Jessica came into this world early and thus accounting for her size.

I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and so I am super glad that I eventually ended up marrying her uncle because otherwise it would be weird to be in love with someone else’s kid with whom you have no relationship.

Anyway….

Jessica moved away to England when she was about a year old… with her parents of course… and so I didn’t get to see her a lot.

While in England Miss Charlotte came to be part of the family and I met her when she was just a little tyke when my sister in law came home for a visit.

When Jess was 7 and Charlotte 5 they moved back home to Canada and I was able to really begin my role as Auntie.

Jessica has always been very much like Scott.  She thinks a lot, and doesn’t say much unless she has something worth while to share.  She has never been really concerned with outward appearances, she loves sports, and loves to learn.

Charlotte on the other hand came out of the womb with a fashion magazine in her hand and an uncanny fear that she was going to miss out on something… the latest news, the latest fashion, or the latest scandal.

Both girls crack me up.

Now that they are growing up I can still see the qualities they held as children but I can also see how these same qualities are moulding them into the women that they will soon become.

Jess who is now in University studying to be a teacher is no longer a fragile little girl with sticking up hair, but a beautiful strong young woman who knows what she wants in this world and will not stop until she gets it.

Charlotte, while still very fashion conscious is a young lady who cares about the people and animals ( we must never forget the animals) around her.  She sees what others don’t and does what she can to make a difference.

While I can take no credit in the ladies they are becoming, I can say that I am proud to be Auntie Melissa to two young ladies who are going to help make the world a better place.

Jessica and Charlotte- back in the day

Jessica at her high school grad ( and Darby our little cousin)

Charlotte and the kids here in El Salvador

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